Bugaboo Creek closure in South Portland leaves 60 jobless

The Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse near the Maine Mall in South Portland closed suddenly this week, putting 60 people out of work and leaving only two locations open in a restaurant chain that started in the 1990s.

The Bugaboo Creek in Bangor closed last week, leaving 19 people jobless following Bugaboo Creek closures last month in Newington, New Hampshire, and Milford, Massachusetts.

The Maine Department of Labor has scheduled a Rapid Response session Tuesday afternoon to assist Bugaboo Creek workers in Greater Portland, who are eligible for unemployment benefits and other services.

“There is high demand in the restaurant sector right now for workers, so the focus of Rapid Response will be on connecting these workers with re-employment,” said Julie Rabinowitz, department spokeswoman.

The Rapid Response session will include information about job opportunities, health insurance options and unemployment benefits.

Since 2010, Bugaboo Creek has closed all but two of its restaurants in a protracted period of restructuring that included going through bankruptcy, securing new ownership and shuttering dozens of locations throughout the Northeast. The chain is known for its rustic decor recalling the Canadian Rockies.

The two remaining Bugaboo Creek restaurants are in Newark, Delaware, and Nashua, New Hampshire, where an employee reached Friday afternoon by phone said workers there have been told that its closure is imminent.

Tuesday’s Rapid Response session will be held at 1 p.m. at the Greater Portland CareerCenter, 151 Jetport Boulevard in Portland. Affected workers also may call the career center at 822-3300 or 877-594-5627.

Employees affected by the Bugaboo Creek closure in Bangor may call the Bangor CareerCenter for individual Rapid Response assistance at 561-4050 or 888-828-0568. TTY users may call Maine Relay 711.

Visit www.MaineCareerCenter.com to learn more about the department’s services or to search for employment opportunities in Maine’s Job Bank.

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Bill Snipardoo

“Raise the minimum wage! Including for wait staff! Those rich dirtbag business owners can absorb the cost, why just look at Bugaboo Creek!”

notspot

Psssssssssssst Billy…South Portland ain’t Portland.

Bill Snipardoo

Pssssst….60 good, hardworking people lost their jobs. That’s what what I care about. More of this to come if we raise the minimum wage too fast.

notspot

Same…but you can’t blame this one on that.

notspot

The Bugaboo Creek in Bangor closed last week, leaving 19 people jobless following Bugaboo Creek closures last month in Newington, New Hampshire, and Milford, Massachusetts.

Higher wages would have closed the doors sooner. Research what happened to Seattle’s food service industry after they raised it to $15. In the first year they lost about 2,000 full time food service jobs and they haven’t even ramped up to the full 15, yet. They lost “full time” positions because with this increase it put too many lazy people over their max for welfare, so they cut their hours to part time in order to still get their welfare. Then the businesses had to hire two part timers to fill what was, one position. Add in extra benefit costs and it’s not sustainable for most local businesses.

wollydevil

When a person has to work 3 jobs that means they are taking a job away from someone else

MaineBrookies

Any business that closes because the minimum wage increases was a welfare queen with a business model that relied on subsidies from taxpayers. Losing such businesses is culling the weak, and is long overdue.

yathink2011

How many employees do you have?

MaineBrookies

While my businesses are now closed, i had as many as twenty. In a field that traditionally pays minimum wage, my base wage was $8 and roughly half my employees made over $10. And that was when the minimum wage was $5.15.

Any more questions?

Tardis1

Why did you close the businesses?

You paid $8 to $10 an hour, how much higher could you have gone before it would have been unviable?

MaineBrookies

“how much higher could you have gone before it would have been unviable?”

It’s hard to say. It was a small human services agency, so increases in the minimum wage justified a request for increased funding.

MaineBrookies

“how much higher could you have gone before it would have been unviable?”

It’s hard to say. It was a small human services agency subcontracting from the state, so increasing in the minimum wage could justify a request for increased funding.

guest

Suckling at the governement teat is not exactly a business per se.

yathink2011

Ya why did you close? And do you think you’re a hero or something?

MaineBrookies

Retirement. And i don’t think i’m a hero. But i do think my experience is pertinent to the topic at hand, which is why i included it.

yathink2011

So while you were still working, if the minimum wage had doubled, how would that have affected your business? And would you have given the same amount of raise to the people you were paying more than the minimum?

MaineBrookies

I expect it would have had minimal impact, as the wage increases would largely be offset with funding increases. It’s not like the state can let consumers in a group home go homeless.

yathink2011

Never mind.

guest

Retirement is a euphemism for business failure.

wollydevil

When business have the right people working that know how to run a business this would not of happen

Miaskovsky

I’m not surprised. This place has been on a steady decline, and thinning of the menu a few months ago indicated things probably were not going well. I was not planning to return because there are so many better options.

About six months ago we were there. I could tell it was going to close by the support management removed from their line staff. I told my wife, ownership was cutting their losses and about to go under. It was so bad, the one waitress serving 15 tables, started crying she was so frustrated. I gave her a big tip and advised her to find another place to work. I don’t think this was a surprise to anyone there.

I don’t think they could compete with the location of the other newer steakhouses.

theophiluser

Maybe a name for the business that wasn’t so unappetizing might have helped. It sounds like bugs are on the menu.

McKinleyME

And their neon sign has been messed up for years, saying only “BOO EEK”

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